Monday, April 23, 2012

Many moons ago (say four years worth) Julie and I needed a table by the door to throw our mail/keys/accumulated crud onto when we came home from work. It also needed to pull triple duty as a surface to place cocktails, and store a variety of remote controls. I whipped up this baby.

I'd just started geeking out on woodworking, and had some new tools, and wanted to use them all. I made a template for the top and bottom, and routed them out. I stuck most of the pieces together using my new biscuit joiner.

After cutting all my slots, I plopped biscuits in and glued 'er up. I was also fascinated with bending wood at the time, and bought this little vacuum bag used primarily for making skateboards. I put it to work on this project to laminate the walnut and maple veneer to the back and the cabinet door.

Fast forward a couple years or so, and this guy Phil Schmidt contacts me about this book that he's making. He says it's a How-To book based on all things plywood. I said I made a thing or two, one thing leads to another, and I'm writing step by step instructions and taking pictures like this here. I'm no pro photographer, but white paper gets you halfway there (no offense, pro photographers).

Luckily I'd taken a course in AutoCad recently because I had to draw up templates for the book. They are still pretty amateurish compared to other pros in the book probably, but a baldman only has so much knowledge in catergories outside of speedy diaper changing and baby food mashing.

I sent this picture in to the book guys, and it made it on the cover! Check it!

I have another table in the book too. I'm pretty sure PlyDesign is coming out in the next few days. Pick up your copy just about anywhere. Tell 'em Baldy sent ya! Stay tuned for cool book release party news in May!

Friday, March 30, 2012

The time is almost here! Baldy in his second book... PlyDesign comes out April 24th. From the looks of the stuff you can kind of peek inside, it looks really cool... AND I have one of my projects on the cover AND the author Phil is a super nice guy. YEP, baby just woke up. My posts have been infrequent and small. Send complaints to my 14 month old son, Nate.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

I made Nate a bookcase. It all started with this piece of plywood I got at a yard sale with a zillion holes in it. I was told it was a test piece for a restaurant in town. Guess they use the stuff all over the establishment. If I were more with it/in the know I would have been to this restaurant, or at least remembered the name. ﻿

I'm assuming that said fancy restaurant didn't trick out their plywood with little bingo chips however. They did probably have their plywood CNCed at a nicer place than my garage. We're one-one restaurant... though I do have a multicolored tricycle and an elusive rat in my digs.

I'm getting better with my dowel stuff. These guys are super smooth... And the velvit oil I rubbed on with a tender caress. The wood almost had to pay me.

I also hooked up an LED rope light to act as a night light of sorts. This is my late night garage test run. Elusive Rat told me it looked pretty good. ﻿

Here the bookcase has been moved into the house. Actually just inside the door... Someday it'll make its way to Nate's actual bedroom. I'd do it myself but there'd be no one here to applaud my brute strength except for Nate and Claire, and they aren't easily impressed.

We've got light!

I considered a variety of ways of putting these lights on, and went with the "two big wads" method... Also notice sliding doors that can cover 2/5ths of whatever books and other junk will accumulate.

This concludes the "Nate's Bookcase" blog entry. If you'd like one made, let me know if you find the proper yard sale wood, or own a CNC machine. Or if you know the name of that restaurant, take a screwdriver with you the next time you dine.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Here are a few of the rad designs that my great/wickedly talented friend Divya came up with. I was kind of partial to this one because of the vinyl rekkid feel it had!

Think Divya has also skinny-ed me down a bit. She's nice that way.

Once we got to this woody style, I was IN. Also, we took off the "PAD" since that's a word that I save just for you and this blog, you one lucky reader!

Div threw in a bit of color, wrapped the words around my chromey pate, and WHAMMO! LOGO! Check it out in all its beauty at the site Bald Man Mod! Also, check out Divya's awesome new children's book, Little Owl's Night, or read this great interview with her on Design Sponge!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Here's a post about a million years late! Design Spongers came through Austin, and Julie and I got to meet Grace and Amy. We made fools of ourselves by making some horrible crafts that had to be tossed when we got home and by bumbling around with the camera like we were 90 year olds with our first digital picturetaker. After several attempts we got this picture here. Everyone in the line that was out the door totally didn't mind. Anyway, as suspected, they were nice and normal, cool people... super friendly. I think New York gets a bum rap- I have yet to meet a person from NYC I didn't like. They might be back through town during SXSW. I'll have Grace tack on "PAGE 346 IS TOTALLY MY FAVORITE!" Pretty sure she signs that in all the other books. She was probably just nervous to meet us.

In other unrelated news, I have a little Facebook page for Bald Man Mod. Currently low on the friends who like me, so do a baldman a solid, and like it. Everyone likes to be liked right? Don't send me the therapy over this. Thanks brahs and sahs.